Days into his new job as Tottenham head coach Thomas Frank pulled Micky Van de Ven aside to deliver some mixed feedback – to tell him he admired him as a defender but that he did not score enough goals for a player of his stature.

The towering 6'4" centre-back did not find the back of the net in an injury-hit 2024/25 but 14 games into the Frank era, he is their top scorer and was the architect of the 3-0 win at Everton on Sunday.

Some Spurs fans had joked it needed Frank to remind him how tall he was given his previous lack of aerial prowess - but more seriously, that early feedback certainly sparked something.

Last season, only six centre-backs won a lower percentage of aerial duels of those who played more than 1,000 minutes. Five were three inches or more shorter than Van de Ven.

Saturday 1st November 5:00pm Kick off 5:30pm

His improvement in open play this campaign has been modest but more marked from set-pieces, from which he has scored all five of his...